The Osprey Flyer, Volume XXXI, December, January Edition 2025/2026
- Virginia Osprey Foundation
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Director’s Message
Dear Friends,
As we begin a new year, it’s a time to reflect on where we’ve been and look ahead with purpose. Each season brings new challenges and opportunities for the Chesapeake Bay—and for the ospreys that depend on it.
Ospreys return to our waterways each year trusting that the resources they need will be there, and their success tells an important story about the health of our environment. Through education, outreach, and community events like the Virginia Osprey Festival, we are working to ensure these iconic birds continue to thrive.
Your support—whether monetary, by attending events, sharing our message, or advocating for conservation—makes a real difference. Thank you for starting this new year with us and for being part of a community that cares deeply about ospreys and the future of our Bay.
With gratitude,
Joanie Millward
Founder & Director
Virginia Osprey Foundation
Advocacy
The Virginia Osprey Foundation was represented at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Annual Meeting in October in Delaware. During the Menhaden Management public comment session, we spoke forcefully on behalf of Chesapeake Bay ospreys, emphasizing the serious consequences of continued menhaden depletion. Osprey chicks are going hungry, nests are failing, and time is running out. We urged the Commission to act decisively now—before irreversible damage is done.
Your voice matters. Please contact your state legislators to demand stronger menhaden protections that put ecosystem health and wildlife first. Please visit our advocacy tab where you will find a sample letter and links to your state legislators! Advocacy | The Virginia Osprey Foundation | Virginia Osprey Education & Advocacy
Thank you for Your Support
Thank you to everyone who supported us on Giving Tuesday and throughout the year. Every gift—no matter the size—makes a real difference. Your generosity supports osprey nesting platforms, monofilament recycling, education programs, and the Virginia Osprey Festival, our largest educational event of the year.
New in 2026
We are so excited to announce the installation of our new Osprey nest camera! Installed on December 17 by Dominion Energy, the upgraded camera features powerful zoom, pan capability, and-most exciting of all-live sound. It is up and running and you can tune in anytime by visiting our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@virginiaospreyfoundation and clicking “Live.”
We can’t wait to welcome David and Lily back to the new nest this season. A huge shout out to Dominion Energy, Colonial Beach Community Foundation, and those that donated to make this project possible.
Save the Date, April 11, 2026
Meet our keynote speaker, Rob Bierregaard
Dr. Richard (Rob) Bierregaard is a research associate of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia and president of the Raptor Research Foundation. From 1979 to 1988, working for the World Wildlife Fund and the Smithsonian Institution, he directed—in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon—the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, which has been described as the largest and most ambitious ecological experiment ever undertaken.
Upon his repatriation in the late 80s, he taught in the Biology Department of UNC-Charlotte and returned his studies to his true passion—birds of prey.
His work over the past three decades has focused on Barred Owls in Charlotte, NC, and Ospreys in northeastern North America. In 2014 he was the lead author on a paper chronicling the post-DDT return of the Osprey population in southern New England. From 2000 to 2017, Rob and his colleagues deployed satellite transmitters on 108 Ospreys, from South Carolina to Newfoundland. The data from 67 juvenile Ospreys, tracking their first migration to South America and back, have provided startling insights into how naïve Ospreys discover the migration route taken by virtually all adults.
In 2018 he published his first children’s book, Belle’s Journey, a narrative non-fiction account of a young Osprey’s first migration to southern Brazil and back again. Belle’s Journey received one of two Honorable Mentions in the 2018 National Outdoor Book Awards' Children's Division, was placed on the National Science Teachers' Association list of outstanding trade books for 2019, and was listed in the University of Wisconsin's Cooperative Children's Book Center's Choices 2019.
Links
Osprey Watch- OSPREYWATCH
Center for Conservation Biology- Home - The Center for Conservation Biology